Write a story about someone who's haunted by their past.

Posted in Character on Oct 28, 2022

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✍️ 252 stories

“The Ghosts Outside the Train.” by Ashley Beeby

Submitted to Contest #51

Amber watched the water wriggling indecisively along the glass, swallowing more water as it traveled backward with the force of the wind outside. It was erratic like a wagging tail or a zig-zag. Not quite as erratic as herself, she mused as she pried her eyes away from the water and instead looked through the glass to see the landscape gently touched by the morning sun. The grassy hills almost shone gold as the sun touched the fine layer of water that covered the world, including the train she rode that barreled through the country-side. Squ...

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“Miracle In The Flesh” by Ashley Ross

Submitted to Contest #51

((TW: the story contains domestic abuse and sexual assualt)) Lacey was a sharp woman in her mid twenties. Up until now, she felt like her life had been meaningless and futile. Not many experiences she could recall were positive ones. She sat at her desk, racking her brains for words that wouldn't come. No matter how hard she tried to make headway with her novel she just couldn't manage to make any significant progress. How was she supposed to put the words together for her story to make sense when she couldnt even straighten out the things h...

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“The Cup on the Counter” by Megan DeRouin

Submitted to Contest #51

The Cup on the Counter The mug sat on the counter by the sink. There was a faded ring of lipstick on one side. Mold had started to grow in the dregs of coffee left behind. There was a picture on the cup, it was a shot of the Eifel Tower at night and below it read in half chipped letters ‘With Love from Paris.’ The handle showed the scar of when it had been dropped on the ground and lovingly glued back together. The cup had been cleaned so many times that it had become a coffee ...

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“Rest in peace” by Zainab Jagani

Submitted to Contest #51

Rest in peace, that’s what flowed through me as I laid in Shavasana (the corpse pose). My favorite and most soothing yoga pose. The relief was neither in the inhale nor the exhale, it was actually after the exhale, the pause before the next deep inhale made me feel like I was in another realm connected to my higher self with utmost potential. At that moment I felt harmony with the rest of the universe. The purple mat I was on, rested on the white tiled floor which was also accompanied by other breathing souls. It truly felt like I was an int...

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“Rose” by A.J Riley

Submitted to Contest #51

My rose. She pricks me, a thorn in my side, but it is tender and soothing. A kiss within a bite. She is on my mind, all consuming. I drown in her. My rose. August 18, 1882 I whisper her name when I fall asleep. In my bed, or outside in the graveyard. My ghost. Rose. My cheeks blush in the summer heat. Hers are pale, her skin ice cold. She is so slender that holding her in my arms is like holding a shadow. I suppose that is what she is. A shadow of a past unknown to me. She has never opened up about her death, an...

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“Her Demons” by Tammy Hornbeck

Submitted to Contest #51

Her Demons Written by Tammy Varner Hornbeck Her demons have been with her so long, she can’t remember a time when it was just her thoughts in her head. Her dreams. They came to her in the dark of the night, in her sleep. Not dreams. Night terrors. They stole her peace. They kept her from truly resting, and they were relentless and unforgiving. She has had them from the time she was a young girl and they have only found more pain and fear over the years to keep feeding on her soul. There’s never been enough sunlight to chase them away perma...

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“Dandelions” by Simone T

Submitted to Contest #51

Their taunts echoed in my mind with each thundering step. Taunts that could cause harm if I let them. Taunts that didn’t matter. At least, that’s what I tried to tell myself. Because as much as anyone wants to pretend, words do hurt. They can hurt as surely as a knife can. I would know. I know it’s foolish to want to give in to their taunts. I know it’s foolish to want to show them how wrong they are. It’s foolish because they are not wrong. As much as I want to --and I really, really want to-- prove them wrong, I also know I can’t. I ...

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“Him” by Mallika S

Submitted to Contest #51

Author's Note: Hello everyone! Thank you for reading my first story on Reedsy. I'd like to issue a few warnings for this story and recommend you read it only if you're 16 years or older. Warnings: My OC is literally the worst human alive, mentions of guns and slight gore (?), prime manipulation, smoking, mentions of a heart attack, classism. Once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading! Russo’s shadow lingered beside her no matter what she did. She could get rip-roaring drunk, and he would be right there, watching her sil...

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“All for Hannah” by Ashley Smith

Submitted to Contest #51

“He has been caught, and he will be going to jail”! The police officer says to one of his fellow officers as he handcuffs me. As he does this, I yell “I cannot go to jail, I have a family! Oliver, I thought you were the good cop!” “Jimmy, we are all good cops. but it’s been your twentieth time being arrested. We’re taking you downtown now!” Oliver is the police officer of my small town I am unfortunately all too familiar with, though I dare to admit he’s the one I would prefer to deal with than some of the others. Oliver is definitely exaspe...

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“Old Love/New Love” by Blisters Wournos

Submitted to Contest #51

They were lovers, although Thomas would never admit it. He put it in other terms- Liam was easy and available. Liam was a slut and Thomas was a drunk and things progressed in the normal way of the world. There was something like love, enough to call them lovers. There were ten good years on the road before Thomas knocked up a stripper and decided to play house. Ten years of holding up gas stations and cocaine in motel rooms and each other’s dizzy sweaty sticky skin. Ten years of moving over Liam’s bo...

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“The Wake of Sacrifice” by Mathias Nobel Hadberg

Submitted to Contest #51

The old man stood in the plaza. The space was teeming with all kinds; humans, elves, catfolk and more. If a race could be reasoned with, you could find it here, at the Crystal Plaza. And yet, the old man was alone. He had come here alone, for all his friends had passed away many years ago. Many were friendly towards him, for who he was, what he had accomplished and who his friends had been, but he had made no new bonds since their passing. It was, in part, a choice but also a failing of his. He had been to the plaza before, but never had he...

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“Regret” by Shoaib Akmal

Submitted to Contest #51

He was standing in the cereal aisle of a grocery store. He took a box from the upper shelf and was about to put it in his cart when his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar face. A tall figure with pale glowing skin, amber eyes, and chestnut hair. The figure was wearing a black hoodie and jeans. As the man looked at him, the figure gave him an ironic smile. Bewildered by what he might have seen, the man rubbed his eyes, but when he opened them again, the figure was gone. The man sighed in relief and said to himself, “fewh…It was just...

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“Arthur” by Tim Brinkhof

Submitted to Contest #51

Arthur “I am like the truth,” he said to himself, knowing there was nobody around to hear, “ugly and unwanted.” As his feet shuffled over the cobblestones, which were wet and slippery from the rain, Arthur once again had the idea it was through these kinds of muffled conversations people had with themselves, in the early hours of the morning and under the influence of alcohol, that the art of philosophy must have been born. On the one hand, he thought it difficult to believe that the key to heaven, the human soul and Plato’s world of ...

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“Lucky Ticket” by R Collins

Submitted to Contest #51

Nora looked at the tickets, piled in a corner of her living room. The pile would ebb and flow over time as she bought tickets and then threw the pile away simultaneously, a loser again. All of them had the same thing printed on them: 05-06-08-21-79, her lucky numbers. The digits that opened the lock to the life she had always wanted.Screaming in rage and frustration, Nora ran her hand over the table, showering the tickets across the floor — fallen stars, each one a prayer for a better future. She dropped down onto the ground and wept, the te...

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“I OVERCAME” by Rejoice Praise

Submitted to Contest #51

For seven (7) years, I lived in self-pity, bitterness, pains, and low self-esteem. If gold medals were to be awarded to ladies/beings who truly are fighters and have fought against their pasts, coming out stronger and better, I deserve to be awarded one, unbiased.For seven years, I had no voice, neither was there an ear that was ready and willing to lend me its attention and listen to my ordeal, nor a willingness from my side to yell it all out either.My nature and personality as a shy person, introverted and a victim of inferiority complex ...

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Write a story about someone who's haunted by their past.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 252 stories

“The Ghosts Outside the Train.” by Ashley Beeby

“Miracle In The Flesh” by Ashley Ross

“The Cup on the Counter” by Megan DeRouin

“Rest in peace” by Zainab Jagani

“Rose” by A.J Riley

“Her Demons” by Tammy Hornbeck

“Dandelions” by Simone T

“Him” by Mallika S

“All for Hannah” by Ashley Smith

“Old Love/New Love” by Blisters Wournos

“The Wake of Sacrifice” by Mathias Nobel Hadberg

“Regret” by Shoaib Akmal

“Arthur” by Tim Brinkhof

“Lucky Ticket” by R Collins

“I OVERCAME” by Rejoice Praise

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that begins and ends with someone looking up at the stars.

Write about someone who has a superpower.

Write a story that involves a mystery — it doesn't need to be crime-related, it should just include something that remains unexplained until the end.

Write about someone who returns as an adult to a place they last visited as a child.

Contest #51

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

1248

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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